The earthquake comes after days of increasingly bellicose rhetoric between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s regime over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions that has raised international alarm. The September 3rd test was North Korea’s most powerful detonation, triggering a much stronger 6.3-magnitude quake that was felt across the border in China. This week marked a new level of acromony in a blistering war of words between Kim and Trump, with the North Korean leader calling the American president “mentally deranged” and a “dotard”. Russia and China have both appealed for an end to the escalating rhetoric between Washington and Pyongyang. But on the fringes of the UN meeting this week, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho upped the tensions further, telling reporters Pyongyang might now consider detonating a hydrogen bomb outside its territory.

Source: Manila Times September 23, 2017 10:30 UTC